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Summer Honors program brings world-class education to rural students
by Jennifer Chick

Some might think that students in larger cities always get the best education. After all, urban students have diverse museums, expansive libraries, and large universities practically next door; they simply have more opportunities at their fingertips. For comparable academic opportunities, rural students have to travel farther and put in more effort. With summer jobs, chores at home, and possibly limited funds, rural students might miss out.

Unless somebody did something.

“With Summer Honors, we wanted to provide opportunities for rural students that urban students have come naturally to them,” said Tim Burke, Summer Honors Program director and director of gifted education for Educational Service Unit #11.

Opportunities to grow

Thirty-three years ago, ESU #11 decided to level the academic playing field for rural students. These students needed a place to put that Midwestern work ethic to use in the summer, they reasoned, diving into issues often not covered in their classes at school. So ESU #11 developed the Summer Honors Program to soar over the geography hurdle by bringing in top instructors from across the country, and even from around the globe, to Holdrege for a two-week-long educational symposium in June.

“Summer Honors started bringing instructors in from all over the U.S. to broaden students’ horizons and to give them opportunities to grow,” Burke said. Students even gain knowledge from instructors outside of the United States, like a past instructor from Iceland and this year’s guest instructor from Mexico.

Summer Honors is open to high school students of ESU #11’s 13 school districts. Students are nominated by their high school teachers and then must complete an exam or portfolio for consideration. Once they are accepted, they choose one of 11 areas of emphasis and spend the two weeks focusing on issues in that area. Burke said that once the students complete the two weeks, they have received the equivalent of a semester-long course in their area of study. The classes take students beyond most rural high school curriculum to a broader understanding of the topics, with problem solving and lively discussions. They might discuss Middle East issues and send the results of their discussion to President Obama, publish an anthology of creative writing, or produce a documentary.

One-to-one

This year, students were able to choose from Math, Computer Science, Entrepreneurship, Creative Writing, Social Science, Logic, Art, Science, Drama, Medical Science, and Film. Although most of the learning takes place on the Holdrege Public Schools’ campus, the medical science class is an exception. The class travels to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for the first week and then spends the second week divided among five different hospitals in central Nebraska.

With fewer than 150 students participating in Summer Honors, class sizes are small enough to allow for plenty of one-on-one interaction with the instructors. Along with their studies, students also complete community service projects and have evening extra-curricular activities.

“We want them to interact with everyone in the program,” Burke said.

Deep community support

The Holdrege community plays a large part in the success of the Summer Honors Program. Residents house out-of-town students in their homes during the week, often building friendships that go beyond the borders of the program. Although the Summer Honors program had moved to the University of Nebraska at Kearney for a few years, it didn’t have the same feel so it was moved back.

“We have a lot of support from the community,” Burke said. “That makes it a very unique program nationally.”

In fact, the program has been recognized several times as a model for rural gifted education programs.

Instructors include a current dean at the University of West Virginia, a guest instructor from Mexico, and a filmmaker with experience in Los Angeles. They all come to Holdrege for two weeks to share what they know with engaged learners eager to pick up new knowledge and think outside of the box. Several past Summer Honors participants also return as instructors to continue the tradition of passing knowledge on to the best and brightest of south-central Nebraska.

Burke said Summer Honors has a remarkable track record of keeping participants in Nebraska. Up to 80 percent of past Summer Honors participants still live in Nebraska, with almost 50 percent of them still living in ESU #11’s coverage area.

Former participants have told Burke that they returned to the area so their kids could have the experience of attending Summer Honors, what many have called the best experience of their life.

“I think when we provide opportunities that are meaningful for high ability learners, they are much more likely to stay here,” Burke said.

Jennifer Chick is a regional reporter for the Kearney Hub and takes on freelance assignments for a variety of clients. She is a native of western Kansas, now living with her husband and two young children in Holdrege, Nebraska. You can contact her via email at tjchick@q.com.

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